Baby Turtle Releases in Puerto Escondido

They found ViveMar through a broker who, for a fee, connects international volunteers with environmental groups. That’s how the world works now. In Mexico, the international volunteers pay around $500 U.S. for one week of work, a bed in an on-site dormitory and some meals. Stefanie and Mark chose ViveMar because they were convinced that the money would be put to good use for the preservation of sea turtles. But we found out that the brokers keep over 50% of what they collect. Now ViveMar is trying to negotiate better terms.

Stefanie and Mark’s volunteer work included assisting with the night patrols from Bacocho Beach to Palmarito which occur on 3-hour shifts from 9pm to midnight, midnight to 3 a.m. and 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. Turtles mostly come ashore to lay their eggs on moon-lit nights. They would collect the eggs, around 100 in each nest, as soon as they were laid - sometimes even while they were being laid - and bring them to one of the hatcheries.

Another problem is that some vacation-home-owners or renters in Palmarito insist on lighting up the beach in front of their houses. After laying their eggs, the turtles find their way back into the sea by following the reflection of the stars and moon on the water. If the beach is lit up, they do not know in what direction to go.

An Olive Ridley turtle, the most common turtle on the Pacific coast, spends around 15 years in the deep sea before they mature and return to land to lay eggs. Only the females go on to the beach, the males that impregnate them stay off the coast. One female may be impregnated by as many as eight males, which assures genetic diversity. The females keep the semen in a sac and will come ashore various times over a period of weeks to lay their eggs before returning to the sea off the coast.

Olive Ridley turtles are famous for always returning to the beach where they hatched, but not to the exact spot. So a turtle released at the Bacocho hatchery may return to the beach in front of Vivo Resorts in Palmarito or to Zicatela and all points in between. The leatherback turtles, which are larger and travel from Mexico to Chile and beyond, also return to the coast where they had hatched, but not necessarily to the same beach. A leatherback that hatched in Michoacán can return to leave her eggs in Acapulco or Bacocho or Salina Cruz. It has to do with the currents.

Baby Olive Ridleys hatch after around 12 weeks. Thousands of baby turtles are released by volunteers every night, including those released by tour groups. The great majority will soon fall prey to sea birds and other predators or get caught in fishermen’s nets and plastic in the ocean. However, those that are released from hatcheries have a perhaps 50% greater shot at survival since they are protected from dogs and other predators on the beach. But even the survivors face sharks once they get to the open sea. This explains why turtles lay so many eggs.